Sunrise
'' ''Sunrise is a side-story that takes place sometime before the events of Civil War, giving insight to the backstory of Mason Moretti before he came to the Coalition. It began on October 1, 2016. It can be found here. Characters * Athena * Carol * Leon Moretti (α) * Leon Moretti (β) * Mason Moretti (α) * Mason Moretti (β) * The Oracle Story Details Chapter α On Mason Moretti's eighteenth birthday, his mother takes him, his brother Leon, and his lover Carol, to a temple where she says he must learn to unlock his aura. Leon expresses disagreement with this, but their mother states there is little choice in the matter, for they could be attacked by the Noir family and that Mason needs to learn to fight as well. Mason decides he will go and attempt the temple's trials, telling his family and Carol that he loves them before entering. His trial turns out to be shorter than expected as he reaches the end, given a choice between following his heart and mind by someone called The Oracle. When he questions why the trial was so short and easy, the oracle grows annoyed, attempting to rush him in his decision. As it turns out, gunshots go off just outside the entrance to the temple trial, where the Oracle says she received a vision of these events and that she wished to rush Mason so that he could stop what was happening. Hastily, Mason chooses his heart and grabs an artifact called The World's Heart before making his way back to the entrance. At the temple entrance, Mason finds Carol dead in a pool of her own blood. He begs for this to be an illusion, only for his vision to go dark in response. He wakes up in an open field with The World's Heart still around his neck. The Oracle appears and tells him that his trial continues, for the real test is moving on. Chapter β Immediately after the events of the previous chapter, Mason begins feeling depressed over the tragedy that has just occurred. The Oracle, meanwhile, manifests herself in a semi-physical form in order to communicate with Mason, and Mason alone. She begins rattling off large chunks of information, which Mason compares to a video game tutorial. The reference is completely lost on the Oracle. However, mentioning the idea of traveling through the multiverse brings Mason out of his depression. He becomes excited, and wishes to learn how his family's aura powers function. However, three out of four books Mason was given as gifts were written in Latin, due to being written by Moretti ancestors. Slightly frustrated, Mason ignores the books entirely and attempts to stuff them inside his backpack. Doing so reveals a note left by his older brother, Leon. Leon offers four pieces of advice in this note: Do not use your real name, do not tell others about the multiverse, do not fall in love, and do not start what can't be finished. On the back of the note, Leon provides basic, yet abstract, instruxtions to teach Mason the basics of his aura powers. After a short amount of practice to learn Mason's powers, Oracle displays her usefulness by identifying the world Mason is currently in. It is defined as "Embassy Crossing" and described as a hub world that watches over several other universes. Using Embassy Crossing's data, Oracle finds a world for Masom to explore and he opens a portal to that world. After jumping between worlds, Oracle informs Mason that his powers do not work immediately after a jump and must take time to charge. She also reveals that they are on Earth, in Mason's home city of Los Angeles, but within an alternate universe. This moment sets a precedent in Mason's mind that other universes may have similar qualities. Due to a case of mistaken identity and his lack of powers, Mason gets taken into police custody in place of this other universe's Mason. He is tazed, passing out and waking up in an interrogation room until the morning. Fortunately, the true suspect is found and our hero is released. As he leaves the precinct and walks along a familiar feeling beach, Mason talks with Oracle about the differences between who Mason is at heart and what "Mason Moretti" means across the multiverse. Mason decides to return to the precinct once visiting hours are open and talk with his multiversal double. The alternate Mason is revealed to be an actor and a gentleman. He is completely convinced that he is innocent, which gives the traveling Mason hope that he may grow into a good person. When questioned about his name, our hero panics and calls himself "Travis Euller" in order to follow Leon's rules. This name comes from Mason's middle name, Travis, and the word "Traveller". Once they leave, Oracle complains about Mason's fake name, but he claims he likes the name "Trav," and this becomes Oracle's nickname for her master. Likewise, Mason begins calling the Oracle "Ora", as at the beginning of the chapter he couldn't remember her name. Chapter γ Two years pass between this chapter and the last. This means that Mason has aged to be twenty years old. Throughout this time, Mason has gone adventures through multiple universes connected to Embassy Crossing. However, instead of growing as a person, Mason has become more disconnected from people by using contant journey and travel in order to distance himself from his painful past. On this day, Oracle hijacks Mason's portal jumping to bring him to a stop at Embassy Crossing with a goal of getting him to rest and possibly confront his problems. The doors to the embassy open, and out steps a woman dressed in green. Although not called by name, this is Athena, one of the overseers of Embassy Crossing. She invites Mason inside, offering him a new adventure. Oracle disappears at Athena's appearance and Mason accepts her offer. Inside, the building is lavishly decorated and contains enough rooms to house and entertain many guests, but Athena and her sister are the only ones in the building. Mason rushes to get to the portal room, which is a clear mess technologically. Instead of actually using the machine, Athena simply snaps her fingers to open a portal to another universe, where Mason's mission takes place. He jumps through the portal without a second thought, before Athena is able to explain that Mason's normal aura powers are unavailable while he is in this universe. The world that Mason arrives in another Earth, and once again in Los Angeles, but in a world fit for a dystopian novel. The world is covered in pollution and crime, and the air chokes Mason both physically amd by limiting his aura. Due to the effects of this universe limiting aura abilities, the Oracle is now manifested as a human being. In this form, the Oracle is much more crass and humorous, no longer bound to act like an assistant and fairy as the World’s Heart forced her to. She reveals her displeasure at being trapped in that form, but she remains loyal to Mason and helps him ensure the success of the mission. Their sudden appearance and conversation attracts a group of three gang members, who surround and attack Mason and the Oracle. One of the three gang members, the leader of the small group, is revealed to be this polluted world's version of Leon. The reunion with his brother after two years is too much for Mason to handle, even though he knows it's not his true brother, as this Leon had killed off the rest of his family. Leon orders Mason to call him King Leon Moretti, but Mason responds by laughing. Angered by Mason's disrespect, Leon shoots Mason in the leg. The Oracle goes into action, displaying skills on par with an assassin, in order to protect herself and Mason. She kills the two thugs and gives Mason a chance to steal Leon's gun. Leon gives one final taunt, asking Mason to kill him, but Mason is unable to find the emotion that had driven him throughout his adventures and would max out his powers during the final battle of Civil War. Instead, the Oracle is the one who shoots Leon, and she proceeds to take a Traveler's Mind artifact from his corpse and carry Mason to a hospital. Once Mason is checked into the hospital, the Oracle reveals that the missions given to the bearers of the World’s Heart is to seek out other, stronger heroes and unlock their potential. From Athena and Amara’s points of view, whether or not those who wear the lockets get stronger or have powers at all is inconsequential. The Oracle also reveals that she used to be a bearer of the World's Heart herself and was locked inside it as punishment for getting greedy and trying to be a hero on her own. When Mason became excited to adventure, she knew it wouldn't be healthy for him, but she gave Mason her own powers so that they could both live out their heroic dreams. The doctor, a woman known as Roxanne Summers, enters Mason's hospital room. She questions whether Mason is an actual Moretti, as she knows Leon killed all of his family. She reveals that Leon actually held a position of power in the city and, despite being an awful person, was a necessary evil to keep the city together. The Oracle takes hold of the situation, manipulating Roxanne into grabbing the Traveler's Mind. The moment she does, the two of them disappear in a flash of light. As the city begins to be destroyed by by air raids, the Oracle returns and saves Mason through the Traveler's Mind. Mason spends the next six months at Embassy Crossing recovering from his injured foot and getting closer with the Oracle. At the end of the six months, Mason decides that he wants one more chance for the Oracle and him to be heroes. He asks to go to a world that is beyond Athena and Amara’s control, and this leads him to the Coalition. Trivia * The world which Mason visits in Chapter Beta is an alternate Ace Attorney universe. The detective is meant to be Detective Gumshoe, and the alternate Mason is innocent. He would be proven as such by whatever main character takes the case, and the truth is that this universe's Carol is the true crime boss. * Although they are not named within Sunrise itself, the two sisters who run Embassy Crossing are named Athena and Amara. The bubble universe in which they live was created by their mother, Fortuna, who is a goddess of fortune within Mason's home universe. ** Athena, Amara, and Fortuna were the ones responsible for the original creation of artifacts such as the World’s Heart and Traveler's Mind. Category:Side Stories